“We’re telling you to take a break,” Dad continued. “You haven’t eaten, you’ve barely slept, and you’ve got so much caffeine in your system your hands are shaking.”
I glanced at the empty cups from the Java Pot and the several energy drink cans that littered the desk as evidence, and then folded my trembling hands into my lap. “I’m fine.”
“You need to go home and get some sleep,” Gabriel said. He, my dad, and April all stood on the opposite side of my dad’s desk.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to sleep because I knew I’d have that dream of Daniel and me again—the one that told me to find the moonstone. The dream had grown more and more urgent the few times I’d tried to rest my eyes while sifting through the stones, making me wake up a few minutes later, all the more frantic to keep up the search.
Without thinking, I grabbed the coffee cup closest to me and gulped down the dregs.
April snatched the cup out of my hand. “Geez, Grace. You’ve got circles the size of hockey pucks under your eyes. I’m totally going to have to get you some heavy-duty concealer before we go back to school tomorrow. People are gonna think—”
I shot an accusatory glare at April. As my best friend, she was supposed to take my side in this. “I don’t care what I look like, and I don’t care what people think.” At least I wasn’t still in my pajamas. At some point in the last twenty-four hours or so, April had brought me fresh clothes along with the supply of caffeinated beverages. “And I’m not going to school tomorrow. How can I without … ?”
My voice caught in the back of my throat, but I pushed down the rush of emotion that rose up from deep inside my chest when I tried to say Daniel’s name out loud. “How can I sit there next to his empty seat in class and pretend he’s just at home sick?”
That was the story Dad had come up with to explain Daniel’s absence from school so he wouldn’t lose his scholarship now that the midterm break was over and we were supposed to head back to class tomorrow. Dad had filed a “home and hospital” release for Daniel, and as far as everyone else in town was concerned, Daniel had a nasty case of walking pneumonia. I still wondered how Dad had actually gotten a doctor to sign the release without examining Daniel … or if Pastor Divine had forged the report himself.
He never did answer the question when I’d asked.
“You’re not missing school, Gracie.” Dad pulled the rock away that I’d tried to snatch from a pile on the desk. “College applications are due soon, and you can’t afford any more difficulties with your grades. Your future is too important.”
“My future? What future? If we can’t turn Daniel back into a human, I don’t have a future.” Why didn’t they understand? “The cure could be in this very room right now. I am not giving up.”
“We told you, Grace, we’re not telling you to give up. We’re telling you to take a break. It could take weeks, maybe even months, to go through all these rocks.” He swallowed hard, no doubt trying to hide the hopelessness that echoed in his voice. He didn’t believe we were ever going to find it. “You won’t be any good to anyone if you get sick or lose it.…” He paused again, and I knew he was thinking about Mom. Mental instability did run in the family. “April is going to take you home so you can get some sleep. Gabriel and I will pick up here where you left off with these rocks tomorrow.”
I stared at the three of them as they stared at me, and I realized what exactly this was: an intervention.
How dare they try to stop you from helping Daniel? a soft but harsh voice whispered inside my head. They’ve given up already, and they want you to also. They don’t understand how important this is for you. Nobody knows you like I do. I shook my head hard, trying to get rid of the demon wolf’s voice. My hand flew to the nape of my neck, searching for the moonstone necklace that wasn’t there. I tried to disguise the move by scratching at the collar of my shirt.
But I couldn’t fool Gabriel. He nodded with recognition. “The more tired or stressed or emotional you are, Grace, the more the wolf will be able to invade your thoughts. You’re making yourself vulnerable by wearing yourself out. How would Daniel feel if your fears for him are what led you to losing your own self to the wolf?”
I clenched my hands at my side. The voice inside my head wanted me to lash out at Gabriel and tell him that he was wrong—he and I had never really gotten along—but deep down I knew he was right. Losing my moonstone at the warehouse meant I needed to be more careful and guarded than ever against the wolf … oh!
“I need to go back to the warehouse,” I blurted out before I’d even finished processing the thought.
“Why the heck would you want to do that?” April fidgeted with the beaded bracelet on her wrist—no doubt one of her new creations. I’d think it was an odd digging-through-rocks accessory if she hadn’t spent an extra-long lunch break downstairs with Jude. “I’d never want to go back there if I were you.” April shivered dramatically. “I get the willies just thinking about that place.”
I shivered, too. So do I. “We need a moonstone. And Dad’s right, it could take months to go through every rock in that gravel-strewn parking lot.” I indicated the buckets and bowls full of rocks, trying not to feel defeated admitting that it was a near-impossible task. “But Caleb smashed both my and Jude’s moonstones at the warehouse, and since a pack of teenage boys aren’t exactly the best housekeepers, I’m guessing there’re going to be moonstone fragments scattered all over the place there. What if I can find enough pieces—maybe April can weld them onto some sort of necklace or dog tag?” Finding enough fragments to make a difference seemed like a long shot—but not a shot as long as going through all these rocks. “I’ll go now.”
“Absolutely not,” Dad said.
“But Dad, I have to—”
“You’re tired, Grace, and you’re not thinking rationally if you believe I’m going to let you go waltzing back into the place where you were almost killed. Your mother would never recover if—”
“If what?” I asked. “You tell her the truth again?”
Dad and I still didn’t see eye to eye on that one. When I’d disappeared from the Halloween festival with Talbot (i.e., gotten myself kidnapped), Dad had taken it upon himself to tell Mom the truth about what all was going on. And let me tell you, that hadn’t gone over so well.